CC sends a lot of heat right out his chimney because he uses double wall pipe which is designed to trap heat in the pipe. Not much heat can be radiated that way and that's a fact. We don't know how many sq. ft that he is heating with that little Mark I either as he refuses to answer this.

The info on this thread has been very helpful, thank you. I appreciate the diagram that Doug provided. I just got a restored Royal Acorn 45 Baseburner Stove a couple weeks ago and finally have some high quality Anthracite to burn in it. I want to make sure I understand the dampers correctly for putting the stove into baseburner mode.

The info on this thread has been very helpful, thank you. I appreciate the diagram that Doug provided. I just got a restored Royal Acorn 45 Baseburner Stove a couple weeks ago and finally have some high quality Anthracite to burn in it. I want to make sure I understand the dampers correctly for putting the stove into baseburner mode.

- in startup mode, open all three- once the fire is established, close all three

That does not make sense to me. Can someone explain to me based on the picture below, which dampers should be closed/open in startup mode and baseburner mode?

To start a fire: Open the primary dampers in the ash pit door, open the base burner valve so the stove is in DIRECT DRAFT, straight to the stove pipe. The correct term for the "base damper," is check damper. The check damper MUST BE CLOSED to start a fire. The check damper is only used to run a cool fire or to slow the rate of combustion down. It works by directing under fire draft straight up the chimney and not through the fire. Open the check damper when shaking the grates to suck dust out side up the chimney. Also when starting a fire leave the stove pipe damper open.

I want to say thanks to all on this forum for the wealth of information provided. William, you especially have been such a huge help. Today is my first day of burning anthracite in my stove. When I got this thing a year ago, I did not even know the difference between Bit and Anthracite. Did not know how to operate the stove. I burned wood and "coal" (which I later figured out was sub-bit). Of course, it ruined the mica and clogged the bb system, etc.

Well, I finally got a hold of some Blaschak Anthracite (very difficult to get out here in Colorado, I had to drive to Kansas to get it). Installed all new mica, installed the magazine, cleaned it up and fired her up today with Cowboy lump charcoal as suggested by others. Loaded the magazine full of coal after it started and it is nothing short of spectacular. Anthracite is absolutely amazing. The 2000 sq. ft. house is cozy warm, sitting here on a snowy cold day in Colorado getting ready to watch some football in front of the stove. Pure heaven

I know you and others have looked at it and said how beautiful it was just sitting cold and asleep.Now look at the difference it has with a fire in it. Now it is a totally different thing warm and alive.There are so many of these really high end base burners that are sitting in corners collecting dust in the possession of collectors.It's very sad to me. At least they are preserved for some one in the future who needs a good heater.I mention to some of them that it would be better if the stove was fulfilling its purpose. They nearly faint when that suggestion is made.

talleyman wrote:Thank you for the detailed response William. Just to make sure we're talking the same terminology my understanding of what you are saying based on the picture below with dampers numbered 1-4:

Your picture notes you don't have a manual damper (stove pipe damper) in the exhaust. Is there no room for one? (I can't clearly see your setup). Were it me I'd put one in. It gives you yet more control over the stove. Very handy and inexpensive device.

If I understand it and others can chime in having a check damper in a stove makes the MPD redundant. My understanding of a BB is the operation of an MPD can defeat the purpose of a check damper and the stove won't run right.

Depending on the stove and the draft strength, both the MPD and a check damper can be used together and help keep more heat in the house while allowing the fire to keep going at a steady rate.

As you know, MPD plates don't completely close off the flue. With a strong drafting chimney it can still have a lot of heat going up the chimney. Using some amount of open check damper can help reduce that overly strong draft.

The brick chimney for my range is about 37-38 feet high - lower half indoors. The top is centered on, and about 5-6 feet higher than the roof ridge. It has a very strong draft.

With the MPD fully closed on my range, and the primary open only a sliver, if I close the primary anymore the fire dies out. So, I use the check damper open about 10-20% each night to help slow down the draft even more then the MPD can. But, it still maintains a healthy fire by not having to restrict the primary anymore to reduce the draft.

Without the check damper it's pulling about .025. With using the check damper, it gets it down to .001 - .0015. Either way the end plates over the firebox are just as hot, but with the check damper in use, the range will keep more heat in the house and run a bit longer too.